Four men given life sentences for plotting 'Lee Rigby-style' terrorist attack

Four men have been jailed for life for plotting a “Lee Rigby-style” terrorist attack to murder members of the police or military using a pipe bomb and meat cleaver.

Three of the men called themselves the “three musketeers” on a messaging app they used to plan the attack.

The trial judge, Mr Justice Globe, sentenced Naweed Ali,29, Khobaib Hussain, 25, both from Birmingham, and Mohibur Rahman, 33, from Stoke-on-Trent, to serve a minimum term of 20 years in jail for their “significant role” in the planned attack.

Tahir Aziz, 38, from Stoke will serve no less than 15 years, being judged to have played a lesser role.

Ali, Hussain and Rahman did not attend the sentencing hearing, instead staying at Belmarsh maximum security prison, where they were taken after the jury found them guilty.

The men, all from the Midlands, were unanimously convicted at the Old Bailey on Wednesday of preparing acts of terrorism, having amassed weapons and were thwarted by a major counter-terrorism operation.

They were arrested in August 2016 and counter-terrorism officials believe it was one of the most significant plots thwarted in the past year.

Globe said there had been four murderous terrorist attacks in Britain during the trial, that stretched from March to August.

He said: “These attacks demonstrate in stark form the carnage that can be created by different types of terrorist attack that can be carried out with a vehicle, explosives and loaded weapons.